CAIRO: Egypt expects an 11 percent hike in the revenues from Suez Canal during the first half of 2022, Lt. Gen. Osama Rabie said in a TV interview on Monday. The chairman and the managing director of the Suez Canal Authority said he expects a commercial boom in the coming period with demand for the channel growing by 11 percent during the next six months. Rabie said the canal’s revenues during 2021 until the first half of December reached $6 billion, a 13 percent increase as compared with the previous year. “This year, we had the highest net tonnage in the history of the canal, at 113 million tons.” The canal authority chief said the number of ships using the canal is likely to increase. Last month, the authority announced a 6 percent increase in transit fees for all types of ships using the route. The hike will come into effect in February 2022.